


Talk Me Down

by ariquitecontrary (ItsAriyanna)



Series: Merthur One Shots [2]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Arthur has a bad day, Fluff, M/M, Merlin is a good listener
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-02
Updated: 2016-03-02
Packaged: 2018-05-24 09:27:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6149048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ItsAriyanna/pseuds/ariquitecontrary
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur was always told: "If you talk to yourself, that's okay as long as you never answer yourself." So how exactly does it work if you're talking to an inanimate object and suddenly it talks back to you?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Talk Me Down

**Author's Note:**

> Based off a prompt I saw on tumblr. :)

To say that he’s had a shitty day would be the understatement of the century. Honestly, he should have known that it would be a bad day when he woke up and realized that his coffee machine was broken. However, he tried to stay calm and made himself a cup of hot tea (that was actually lukewarm by the time he got to drink it so). 

Then he was fifteen minutes late to work, because traffic was terrible and Morgana called him and demanded he stop by her favorite bakery and pick up some muffins for a meeting she was having. Granted, he owned the company and didn’t even have to show up, but still. It looked unprofessional on him. 

As he gave Morgana her precious treats, she kindly pointed out that he was wearing two different shoes. He wanted to run home, but she insisted you couldn’t really tell unless you were focusing very hard. Whatever. 

But the biggest letdown of his day was when the business deal he had with Essetir Inc. had fallen through when Cenred decided to pull out of it last minute. It was hardly a loss to Arthur, but the fact that he spent so much time on it annoyed him to no end. 

He had left the boardroom in a fit of rage (which he’d probably regret later) and took off towards the parking garage where his Aston Martin was parked and had to refrain from kicking the beautiful car. Instead he let out a yell and brought a fist up to his mouth and bit down sharply on his knuckles. After shutting his eyes tightly and counting to ten in his head, he took a deep breath and unlocked his car before getting in. 

He knew it was stupid to get mad over Cenred. There would be bigger and better businesses who could do him a lot more good than Essetir ever could, but he felt used and betrayed and he hated it. 

Just as he started up his car and was about to leave, a ding from his cell alerted him of a text message. He opened it and felt his face heat up at the words on the screen.

**Father:  
Heard the business deal was shut down. We will be talking about this later.**

With a final feeling of defeat, Arthur threw his phone on the seat next to him and screamed as he began to hit the steering wheel repeatedly with his fists. He knows he’s acting like a child, but he doesn’t care. The text from his dad was just the cherry on top of his shitty day. With a final punch to the wheel, he gathered his mind and peeled out of the parking lot, nearly running over some new intern on his way out (Morgan? Mordred? Moron? Whatever). 

He had the radio off because he knew it would just make him angrier and instead focused on where he was going. Truth be told, he really had no clue where the hell he was going, but anywhere was better than his office. 

After a while, he looked down at the clock to see that it was well past two thirty, which meant he’d been driving for over an hour. He must have zoned out during his drive, but a look at his surroundings let him know that he was just a few miles out of the city. 

He debated turning his car around and heading back, when he passed by a park. He had never been one for strolls in the park or whatever, but something about this one seemed calming. It wasn’t as loud and crowded as the ones in the city. In fact, there were only a few people there and before he knew it, his car was parked and he was making his way down a trail that led to the farthest end of the park. Most of the people there were playing with their kids or pets in the front of the park and he just really felt like being alone.

He finally stopped in front of a beautiful Maple tree and sat down in front of it. He knew if Morgana was here that she’d scold him for getting his suit dirty but he really didn’t care. 

“I hate everything,” he whispered to himself as he let his head hit the tree. It hurt, but he felt like he deserved it, so he hit his head several more times before a voice spoke up and startled him.

“Ouch. You shouldn’t do that.” 

Arthur jumped up and looked around himself trying to see where the voice came from, but he was alone. 

“Who’s there?” He questioned in a panic. 

“Me.” 

Later he would blame his stress, but for some reason, the only thing that made sense to him was that this Maple tree was somehow talking to him. 

“Tree?”

There was a soft laughter, before a quiet, “yes”. 

Arthur should have ran, or gone to see a doctor, but instead he nodded in acceptance. The tree had a nice laugh and it calmed him down. 

“I’m sorry I hit you with my head.” He apologized sadly.

“It’s okay, don’t do it again. What’s wrong?” 

He thought it over. Did he want to open up about his problems to this tree? Usually, he’d tell whomever it was to fuck off, but this tree was different and besides, it was a damn tree. Who was it going to tell?

“My day’s just terrible.” He whispered out.

There was a low hum in acknowledgement and he took it as encouragement to continue. 

“It started when my coffee machine was broken and then my tea was cold. I got dressed too fast and I’m wearing two different shoes.” The tree laughed at that and Arthur found himself smiling too. “I should have stayed home, but nope. I went in and then my business deal with this company fell through. It’s not even a big deal really, we would have done more for them then they could have for us, but my dad texted me and I know he’s disappointed.” 

That’s what was really bothering Arthur. He hated when he felt like he had let Uther down, which was quite often if he’s being honest. It made him feel like a failure and no matter what he did, he felt like he could never truly make his dad proud. 

“I’m sorry,” the tree said sincerely. “You shouldn’t dwell on it, though. Today is just one day out of the thousands you will have in your life. It might seem bad, but it will work out, I’m sure of it.” 

“I know. I’m stupid for even caring in the first place and showing weakness by getting upset and storming out of my office.” He regrets it now as he looks back on how he acted. It was dumb and childish. His father would be furious if it got back to him. 

“You’re wrong.” Suddenly there was a rustle in the tree leaves and Arthur yelled out as a man jumped out of the tree and landed in front of him.

“What the hell?” He gasped out, clutching his hand to his chest. “Who are you? Where did you even come from?”

The man gave him a funny look and motioned towards the tree. “I was hanging out.”

“On a tree limb?” Arthur asks, exasperated. 

The man just nods. As Arthur takes a good look at him, he realizes that the man has really pretty eyes, a blue that outshines the beaches he visits in Mexico, and cheekbones that are so sharp he thinks they might cut his finger if he touched them. However, his admiration is cut short when he realizes that he’s just poured out his problems to this complete stranger. 

“Wait, so you heard all that?” 

“Um, yes?” The tree boy says. “You didn’t really think you were talking to a tree, did you?”

“Of course not!” He snaps. “I just wasn’t aware I was talking to a complete stranger. That’s rude you know. You should have jumped out when I first got here.”

The man just nods his head and motions for Arthur to sit back down. He does, hesitantly, and the man sits next to him.

“Everyone needs to vent sometimes. And like I said before, you’re wrong about how you walking out of your office showed weakness; it doesn’t. Everyone has a bad day and we’re all entitled to our bad days. I think it’s wise that you left instead of causing a scene at work and doing something that you’d ultimately end up regretting.” 

Arthur listens and realizes that this man is right. He also realizes that as he stares into the man’s eyes, he wants to open up to him completely. His gaze is locked on Arthur’s and his eyes are so trusting and sincere, that Arthur just nods along with his words.

“Yes, I suppose you’re right.” He smiles and holds his hand out to the stranger. “I’m Arthur.” 

The man smiles widely as he grasps Arthur’s hand in his and shakes it. “Merlin.”

“So, Merlin, you hang around in trees often?” 

“That depends. Do you talk to trees often?” 

Arthur lets out a loud laugh and finds that Merlin’s hand is still wrapped around his. He doesn’t want to pull away, doesn’t want to let go of the warmth and protection he feels in that moment, but he does. 

“Thank you for listening to me.” He says with a shy smile.

“Anytime. I hope you feel better.”

“I do.” And he means it. Merlin really had made things better. 

They’re quiet for a moment and Arthur worries about Merlin leaving soon. He doesn’t want to leave the park without ever seeing him again. On a whim, he stands up and offers his hand to Merlin, who is still sitting cross-legged on the grass.

“I didn’t eat lunch, due to my mild breakdown. Would you care to join me for something? It’ll be on me, a ‘thank you’ for listening to my problems.”

Merlin grins and grabs Arthur’s hand to stand up. “I’d love to, as long as we can go to my favorite diner in town! I’m sure you’ll love it.” 

Arthur smiles and nods. “Sure thing, wherever you want.” 

The two smile at each other for a moment before walking off to Arthur’s car, hands still intertwined and Arthur smiles at the change in his day. 

He’d deal with a hundred bad things if it meant he could have this one good thing in the end.

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed! :)  
> once again, if you'd like to leave me a prompt or something, you can find me on my [tumblr](http://camelotskingz.tumblr.com), thanks for reading!


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